The European Commission has accepted a proposal for a directive addressing a new standard in short-range radio. Digital short-range radio, or DSSR, is a new numerical communi cations system that doesn’t depend on public networks. The service is suitable for short distance calls – ranging from two and five miles – and comes at a considerably lower cost than that of mobile telephony. Based on an elaboration of a European Telecommunications Standards Institute standard, the new DSSR service has a low fre-quency consumption, which fits in with Commission proposals to release common frequency bands between 888MHz and 890MHz, and 933MHz and 935MHz, in order to ease congestion and make room for the equipment of other member states. This year, the member states will introduce the pan-European cellular GSM Groupe Speciale Mobile service, which promises a higher quality of voice transmission and all the facilities of public telephone networks and ISDN. The intention is to make it possible for mobile subscribers to travel freely across the Community, while retaining a telephonic link. In 1992, DECT, the Digital European Cordless Telephone will make its debut – a cordless telephone system, which operates at distances of 100 yards from public telephone networks.
